The present invention relates to a drive device with an actuating drive for driving a movable element, in particular a locking device of a motor vehicle door, by means of a gear wheel which has a gear ring and a hub, it being possible for the gear ring to be driven directly or indirectly by the actuating drive and for the movable element to be acted on indirectly or directly by the hub of the gear wheel.
Locking devices of motor vehicle doors are usually driven mechanically or electrically. Electrically driven locking devices are used in particular when a particularly rapid opening and/or locking operation of the motor vehicle door is required. A particularly powerful motor which runs up to particularly high revolutions in a particularly short time is required for a particularly rapid opening and/or locking operation of a motor vehicle door. However, as the opening and/or locking operation takes only a particularly short amount of time, the actuating drive which drives the locking device is usually turned off again, that is to say run down, directly after it has been run up. Even if the actuating drive which activates the locking device is immediately switched off, the kinetic energy of the motor can cause a considerable peak torque to be applied to some elements driven by the motor. This loading can damage components of the drive train and, in extreme cases, even destroy them. However, as an electronically driven locking device of a motor vehicle in a motor vehicle door requires an extremely small amount of space, it is usually not possible to absorb the kinetic energy over a particularly long path when turning off the actuating drive which drives the locking device.